Insulated rail joint



Febo H9 QZL 354%@4543 B. WOLHAUPTER ET AL INSULATED RAIL JoINT Feb., 19,' 1924. ALSLLQ@ B.4 WOLHAUPTER VE'i' AL INSULATED RAIL JoIN'T Filed July 9, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 BENJAMIN WOLHAUPTER AND CLAIR-KS Patented Feb. 19, 1924.

narran stares earner ortica.

OF NEW YORK.

INSULATED Application filed July 9,

To all fui-,7mm t muy concern Beit known that we, BENJAMIN lWonnAUrTnR and CLARKso-N A. Drsnnow, citizens of the United States, both residing at New Rochelle, county ot Westchester, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Insulated Rail Joints, of which the following is a specitication. l

`This invention relates to insulated rail joints, and more particularly to joints of the type shown in the patent to McCauley No. 1,205,647, dated Nov. 21, 1916, and in which the insulation is coniined or housed by metallic parts in such a Way as to protect the insulation against excessive wear and abrasion and thereby lengthen its life.

To that end the invention has primarily in view the provision of a simple and practical construction which aiiords an inexpensive way of making an insulated joint of the type referred to by eliminating much of the accurate mill work required to produce such a rail joint. That is to say, the invention contemplates a Construction which can be made by rolling or othewise fabricating the bar in such a way as to avoid the use of drills, milling cutters or other special mill operations thereby )roviding a more economical barl of the h' cCauley type.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a construction which allows of slight variations in the length ot' the rail bearing parts of the joint bar and yet permits ol completely and satisfactorily confining the insulation in the bar. l

A further object of the invention ris to provide a construction of the character set forth which provides for an adjustment between the bearing members of the joint bar vand the rails so that pressure will be evenly and uniformly distributed on'the insulation even though the joint bars should be applied in a canted or cocked position.

lVith the above and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the saine consists in the nove-l construction, combination and arrangement ot' parts, hereinafter more fully described,`illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

ON A. DISBROW, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEVI YORK ASSIGNORS T THEIR-AIL JOINT COMPANY, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION RAIL JOINT.

192s. serial ne. 650,451.

Figure l isa side elevation of a joint bar embodying the present improvements.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a rolled joint bar made in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a rail bearing member adapted to i'it in the groove rolled in the head or foot of the joint bar.

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 4*-4 of Fig. 1.

F igure in is a detail view illustrating the manner in which the main insulation interlocks with the insulating keys.

Figure 5 is aside eleva-tion of a joint illustrating a modilied form of the invention.

Figure G is a detail perspective view ot' the top of the bar shown in Fig. 5.

Figure 7 isv a detail sectional view of the construction shown in Fig. 5.

F igure 8 is a detail longitudinal sectional vie-w of a portion of the head of a joint bar showing a modified form of the invention wherein the insulation is held against longitudinal shifting by welded parts.

Figure 9 is a top plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 8.

Figure 10 is a detail cross-sectional vien' taken on the line l0-10 of Fig. 9.

In carrying out the objects of the present invention it is proposed to provide a joint bar which may be readily and economically made either by rolling millor other methods which will dispense with machining or other costly operations, thereby economic-ally pro ducing a joint construction having l'n'oadly the principle of the McCauley patent but particularlj7 having an important improvement in the manner of mounting and assembling the metal bearing blocks and insulation wherebv the insulation is housed ani"L shielded from direct contact with the rail und prevented from mashing out or shredding as usually happens under the abrasive effect due to the relative movement between the rail head and the joint bar.

According to the embodiment of the in vention shown in Fig. 'l of the drawings, the bar B may be formed at the time of rolling with longitudinal channels or grooves 1 at the top and bottom edges or the bar. rlhese grooves extend the full length oi" the bar and are adapted to receive a strip of insulation 2 which provides a seat for a Utl the insulation is eitectually conlinedwhile 'continuous self adjusting metal rail bearot the bar as clearly shown in Fin'. Je ot the drawings.

The distinctive feature ot this 'toi-1n ot the invention is the provision of a lnjroove and a continuous rail bearing' bar tor conlining the insulation 1 in the groove and assuming' the abrasive action between the rail and the joint bar.V ln order to preventthe longitudinal shitting or creeping ot the. rail bear insu.A member 3 any suitable vand convenient means may be provided tor interlockingl the bar with the insulation, 'as tor exanijile shown in Fics, 2 and 3 of the drawings. wherein it will beA observed the insulation strip 1 is provided at suitable intervals with the slots 7 for receiving `insulation keys S which lie transversely of the insulation strip 1 and are adapted to interlock with the key slots 9 formed in the curved 'tace #l ot the bearing member. f

Obviously, with this torni ol construction at the same time the rail bear-in; member is held against endwise movement. Allso, due to the tact that the rail bearing' member 3 has a relatively rockable oreircumierentially shiitable engagement with the insulation 1 it is always possible to maintain a proper bearing contact. bet-v.'een the tace 5 ot the rail bearing member and the fishing' surfaces ot the rail head and rail base even though the bar B should be applied in a canted or cocked position. Furthermore. by reason ol the way in which the grooves and eomplcmental rail bearing` n'ieinbers are designed a slight variation in the length of either the splice bar B or the member 9 is allowable and yet the insulation may be roinpletely coniineth modification ot` the invention is shown in Figures G and T ot' the drawings where- Y in theorooves l do not extend continuously throughout the vlength ot the bar B but are vmade in the torm ot twoenclosed `grooves harina the walls'l() at the ends ot the bar and the intermediate partition wall 11. ln this form` the insulatingl strip or shoe 2. is fitted in the bottom ot the halt round grooves la, and separa-te rail bearing' members 3a areY provided for each Ygroove. 'llieseaail bearing members may be provided with the side flanges 12 which overlie a portion of the upper edge ot.' the insulation 2 andatlord further protection therefor. Also, in .this torni ot' therinvention it is necessary to use the insulation pieces lzlqat the ends of the grooves 1a so as to properly insulate the steel or other metal rail bearing members 3- t'rm the joint bar B.

A novel built-up orV fabricated construen tion is shown in Figures 8` and 9 of the drawings wherein it isprfoposed to form the joint bar B2 withV grooves 1b,V the same being 'formed when the bar is rolled and extending throughout the length of the bar. At any `selected intervals within the groove insulated rail bearing members 3* are located. These members preferal'ily have a flat. rail engaging tace let and the inclined end walls 15 while the rounded bottom; sides 1G there ol rest upon insulating strips 1T. Vin con nection `with the insulating strips 1T it is pointed-out that the top and bottom surfaces Y thereof are struck on arcs ot ditierent radii which produces the eltect ot' relatively thick medial portion and relatively thin edges t'or the strip. This arrangement provides increased bearing efficiency for the strip and also provides a greater quantity of insulation where most ot' the bearing pressure is focused. The inclined ends 15 ot the rail bearing` members 3l are covered with insulatingv pieces 18 and then theV rail bearing' members are locked in position by suitable keyblocks .19V which in turn are welded as at 2O to the adjacent faces ot' the joint zbar. Thus. the metal rail bea-ring members or blocks 3b lare .not Vonly locked against longitudinal movementin the groove 1b. but are also locked tothe bar. This construction aftords opportunity to seat the rail bearing,- blocks or strips at any desired spacing, and in any preferred'railbearing lolation. `From the :foregoingl it will be apparent that the distinctivefeature ofall the forms ot' the invention shown hereinjis the provision ot' relatively'capacious .grooves in the top and bottom sides of the bar which are ot sufficient sizeV toV permit ot insulation strips ot adequate area being used, and which also greatly facilitate the manufacture ot' the joint and the assembly Vof the parts in installing the same. Y

- Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the present invention will bereadily apparent and it will of course be understood that changes in the t'orm. jn'oportionand minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing trom`the scope of the invention or spirit ot the appended claims...

fille claim: y

1. .-\.n insulated rail. joint including a joint bar having a longitudinally disposed groove therein. ay metal rail bearing block arranged in said groove and insulationV seated in said groove and embracing' the metalV bearing' block.

2. An insulated rail joint including Va joint bar having? a groove. insulation inV said 1 ,licensee groove, and a self-adjusting rail bearing member engaging and holding said insulation.

3. An insulated rail joint including a joint bar havingtherein u. rounded groove, insulation .itting and conforming to the groove und :i metal hearing block engaging and conforming to the insulation.

An insulated rail joint including :L joint bnr having therein u rounded groove7 insulation iitting and conforming to said groove und a` metal rail bearing block having a flat rail engaging surface and a rounded insulation engaging surface.

An insulated rail joint including a joint bar having a groove in the head thereo't. a self-adjusting ruil bearing member, insulation Confined in the Igroove and engaging said rail bearing member. and inea-ns for interlocking the rail hearing member Wit-h the insulation.

6. An insulated rail joint including a joint bar having therein n groove, insulated metal rail hearing blocks seated in the groove atpredetermined locations7 and fastening means for locking the metal bearing blocks in place.

7. An insulated rziil joint including a joint bur having therein a groove, insulated metali rail bearing blocks sea-ted in the j groove at predetermined locations and Welded fastening ineens for lockingthe metal bearing blocks in place.

In testimony whereof We hereunto atlix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

BE NJA Ml N lVOLl-L-LUPTER. CLARKSON A. DISBROW. Witnesses E. K. Knnsim ne KATHERINE llloNALLv` 

